We thought we would start this evening with a look at a brand heretofore unknown to The Princess: Kiel James Patrick.

Courtesy: Kiel James Patrick

As described by the designer:

“Kiel James Patrick irregularly stitched bracelets, are individually created solely by the designer from the finest vintage materials. Fabrics are meticulously hand-selected to uphold classic New England motifs.”

Their are a number of brightly-colored collections. The site also offers scarves:

Courtesy Kiel James Patrick

The scarves are original designs by Mr. Patrick, 100% Virgin wool, and bound using silk and cotton.

Next, some readers may remember our story about Tiffany opening its FiDi store a little more than a year ago.

PHOTO: Robert Caplin/Bloomberg News

Situated in the heart of the Financial District (the store is actually on Wall Street), the opening was awash in fanfare and frivolity. The Princess was quite enamored of the Tiffany blue gowns, despite the wrinkles, really unforgiveable under the circumstances.)

Courtesy The Shophound

Initially things went swimmingly. But in a recent story on the Portfolio website, some say this location isn’t exactly the best place to be right now for high-end retailers. A snippet from the story:

“Sales are already softening at downtown boutiques just as the all-important holiday shopping season gets underway, and the outlook is grim.”

Tiffany’s neighbors Thomas Pink and Hermès and luxury luggage-maker Tumi are said to be suffering, along with Canali, who just opened last spring over on Broad Street. (They do incredible menswear, especially tailored apparel, although the styles are generally a tad too ‘hip’ for the Princess Consort.)

Courtesy Canali

Business publisher Crain’s had a story a few weeks back looking at how ‘luxury retailers’ will weather the tough economy:

“Midtown stores such as Saks and Barneys, both of which are located not far from Lehman Brothers’ 49th Street and Seventh Avenue former headquarters, will be hurt by the market turmoil and massive layoffs. Saks’ flagship Fifth Avenue store accounts for about 20% of the company’s total revenues.”

“Some mid-to upper-end stores, like Coach, which has 10 stores in Manhattan, may stay afloat due to the trading down effect. Shoppers could be more apt to purchase a Coach handbag, retailing for between $200 and $500, than a Prada bowler bag at Barneys which sells for more than $1,900.”

We leave with another reminder to leave on comment about something you are thankful for about the United States…a comment on something you are grateful for related to the USA; leave the comment on this post, or any other post published since last Wednesday, and you will be entered in the Great Preppy Giveaway! You could win this great Bungalow Scout tote from Preppy Princess!

Bungalow Scout Tote

And if you mention this giveaway on your blog and you are the winner, you also automatically win this set of preppy Madras cards to be sent to anyone of your choosing! (And TP pays the shipping on all of this!)

“Summer at Tiffany” is a great read—the cover of the book is the famous Tiffany blue. It’s about two college age girls who took the train from Iowa in the summer of 1945 to New York City and they each got a summer job at Tiffany’s. Perhaps you could get a copy at your local public library!

But what I am thankful for in the United States is… that we have millions of people that have joined the military on their own [minus the draft] in order to protect the rights and people of our country. No one forced them to do it, but they make our lives better everyday.